The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, also known as PSSA, measures how well students have achieved in reading, mathematics, science and writing according to Pennsylvania’s world-class academic standards. By using these standards, educators, parents and administrators can evaluate their students’ strengths and weaknesses to increase students’ achievement scores. According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students must be 100% proficient in reading and math by 2014.

The PSSA results allow schools and districts to evaluate their students’ progress to make full proficiency a reality. Today’s eighth graders will be 11th graders by the year 2014 when full proficiency must be reached.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine annually whether schools and districts in Pennsylvania make Adequate Yearly Progress, also known as AYP. The 2009-10 targets were 56% proficient or advanced in math and 63% proficient or advanced in reading.